


Blood In The Water

by NeverBackDown001



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Dark Past, F/M, Near Death Experiences, Safe Haven, Stick Fighting, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:28:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29239827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverBackDown001/pseuds/NeverBackDown001
Summary: Living in the broken pieces of a bloody country that turned on it's own, Perseus does all he can to survive another day. Running to a safe haven in what was called the Rockies, he finds friends, family and what seems like a real future. But the safe haven he calls home is being turned from the inside out, starting with treason. The only person he can trust is a former vigilante and dangerous hit-woman, so that they can root out the evil in the last home they'll ever have. But that comes with a deadly price, and it won't be easy to pay it.Can be found on my Wattpad which is (NeverBackDown001)
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace/Piper McLean, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Death At His Doorstep

Percy always hated being alone. When Mom left to go to work or the store. When Dad left to go yell at the neighbors, leaving him in the living room, on that comfortable couch, but that gnawing anxiety eating him up inside.

Being alone made him feel trapped and in the darkness. Percy hated the dark.

So he made sure he had friends as a kid, always having someone over. Tyson, his best bud was over every weekend, and stayed most of the time, trying to escape the abuse he experienced at home. It had been years since Percy had seen Tyson. If Tyson was even alive that is. He doubted it. Everyone from his hometown was either dead or enslaved.

Now, Percy felt more alone than ever.

This was his last meal, well, most likely because he was going to die alone in the chilly wilderness of the mountains. Shivering as he cooked the lizard over the fire, trying to shake the chill of the rain from today, Percy attempted to keep his hopes up.

But there was that feeling, that terrible rising feeling that death was watching him from afar. He couldn't shake it. It had been like that for almost three months, since he escaped execution in the High Court of Hell in the Dark Region of his broken world.

Maybe he should have stayed there. His life was practically over anyways. He had no family, all of his friends where dead and no home to return to. The High Court had found him guilty of treason and sentenced him to death by drowning, but hours before he managed to slip out and had been on the run ever since.

So he sat there, in the darkness, huddling by the fire, trying to survive. If he made it past morning, he deserved a medal. Barely anyone made it a few weeks in the wilderness of the Wild West before, all unprepared or too sickly to live. But his parents had taught him how to make a basic shelter and start a fire, just in case. He remembered his father making him trudge along in the Apalachian snow, trying not to cry, not knowing it would later save his life. Or saved it for a period of time. 

Percy had been trying to find the so called 'save haven', a place high in the mountains where the High Court couldn't touch them because it was atop an old air force base stashed with nukes and handy scientests. If the High Court was to go after this so called place, they would nuke the capital and destroy what the High Court had fought to gain. That was what a friend had told him while sitting in a cell, waiting to die. 

"Get it together." He muttered to himself, wanting to pull it together as he rubbed his hands together. If he was going to die, he couldn't die a delerious man, dreaming of a safe home that didn't exist. The High Court was ruthless, taking over the Crown with bloodshed, slaughtering the Royal Family, all twelve died, except two, well there where speculations. Hestia and Dionysus, the two youngest of the twelve hadn't been found in the bloodbath, but they could have been burned alive. Percy didn't want to think about it. That was two years ago, almost three, those two would be around twenty five or so, and could be ruling peacefully like their family had before. 

Now it was only blood and war. 

When the High Court had taken the Crown, rebellion ensued in the streets, so many people died there alone that it was insane. Percy had managed to escape before the police and guard rounded them up for being enslaved to the rich and powerful families spread across the land. His parents had died trying to escape like he had.

The wind shifted, cutting the open bits of skin like icy daggers, slicing through the little warmth he had left in the tattered parka around his shoulders. He must have been at least thirty miles from the nearest town or city, because there was nothing, just endless stretches of trees and mountains looming in the distance. 

Percy didn't want to die. It was that simple. He had a inkling that there had to be more to life than being a slave to a vicious new empire and living in constant fear of death. No, his parents had died for a reason, helping him escape through the back window so that when the guard stormed the little house they had, Percy would be long gone. All that he had from his former life was gone. Only memories and scars remained imprinted on flesh and bone. 

His fire was dying, the embers flying into the air, smoke curling into the night sky. Percy looked up to see the canvas of light above, pinpricks of whites and faint yellows, burning brightly. A round, plump moon was hanging low in the darkening sky, the last remains of the sun disappearing behind the mountains. It was beautiful, all that you could see in the cities was ash and dust, the occasional star but that was as rare as peace. 

So if he was to die, at least he was to die under the beauty of the night and stars. 

Curling up in his array of sleeping bags, blankets and extra clothes, but not before throwing a couple extra logs in the fire, Percy blew a kiss to the sky. Mother had always told him to give thanks to the dead because you could become apart of them any day. It was kind of like a ritual and he hadn't stopped it, it reminded him of better days, wen he had three meals, friends, family and a future awaiting him. Now, there was nothing but an ashy slate. 

"Blow a kiss to your ancestors dearie." Mother had then watched him do it, kissed his forehead and turned out the night lamp on his side table where he would be encased by the shadows and the monsters lurking beneath his bed. 

He closed his eyes, wrapping himself up in his blankets, trying to keep warm on the chilly autumn night, slowly drifting off, like snow sliding off a rooftop, into a dark and dreamless sleep, one he hoped to wake up from.

\------------------------

"Shh, we must not wake the boy, he cannot see the path." A harsh whisper sounds in the darkness, wind blows from east to west gently, not as rough. Percy slowly feels himself wading out of sleep, pale moonlight shining into his eyes. 

"He will be stirring any moment Phoebe, and besides, once we reach the destination, he will not care to leave." 

Percy feels confused. Is this some sort of dream that is somewhat real but not? The first voice is darker, almost vicious like, a predator laying in wait to snatch it's prey with their meaty paws. The second voice is a little gentler, like a gurgling creek on a mountainside trail. There are footsteps, softly treading on the grass and dirt floor beneath. He shifts in the blankets a little, hoping this is a simple dream. but when there are sharp intakes of breaths, he knows this isn't a dream and he is not alone. 

His hands wrap around the knife beneath the pillow, the one he stole from a rich guy walking on the streets, not after he escaped. Bolting upwards, the knife is pointed out, his eyes wild and hair askew on his head. There are at least seven girls dressed in silvery fabric that ripples in the night air, army boots and weapons strapped to their backs. They don't draw their weapons, just raise their eyebrows almost lazily. 

"Who are you?" He demands, wanting to know if they are from the High Court, looking to arrest them. But as he scans around, they can't be from the High Court, the High Court would have men in uniform, not women in silver camo. 

The lead girl, she has curly dark hair and pale skin, slanted eyes that are almond shaped, dark and mysterious with freckles splashed across the bridge of her nose. The girl looks to be the leader because she wears a silver headband that has engravings written upon it. She only stares at Percy, dark eyes boring into his. 

"We are no-one. As you are. You came across our territory, we've been watching you for days." 

Percy felt nervous. He had seen enough movies to know this is where the part was when they killed him. 

"I'm sorry for coming across your land, I can leave." He offered, but already knew that was no good. The leader smiled. 

"If you posed a threat, we would have shown no hesitation in killing you. But as we watched, it became clear you are a good addition to...well...a camp of sorts." 

Percy relaxed a little when they said they would have already killed him and haven't now, but his eyes widened when he heard the word camp. Did that mean he was close? 

"What camp?" 

"You've heard of it. Many think it's a myth, but it's very much real." 

"And you're going to take me there?" Percy was starting to get nervous again because a girl with reddish blonde hair was coming dangerously close to him, muscles bulging through her shirt. She was scary looking. 

The leader gave a wicked grin, the kind that villians did in movies. "Sure." 

The blonde turns to him, the last thing Percy sees before it's all darkness is a giant fist swinging towards his face and an outburst of cruel laughter.


	2. Haven and Homes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol I love writing this already   
> Give me some feedback in the comments please!

Percy wakes to voices, again. 

This time there are three of them. The first is soft and almost like a teacher talking to kids, warm and simply friendly. It reminds Percy of his primary school teachers whenever he did something right, their comforting tones and smiles. 

The second voice reminds Percy of his friends back home, well, even if they died, it reminds him of them. Slang integrated into speech and a slight accent, the kind that reminds Percy of meeting southerners when they came up north, the 'y'all's and such, a drawl to the tone. 

The third is like one of the girls he met in the forest, before they knocked him out, harsh, like knives scraping against sheet metal, a grueling sound but it's almost...comforting? This confuses Percy for a reason. 

His eyes open slowly, his surroundings coming into a clearer focus, he's in a tent of sorts, the kind set up in war fields for the injured, sunlight streaming through the entry flaps of the tent, he can see traces of green as the wind shifts them a little. There are three people standing inside the tent with him. A boy with bouncy golden curls that fall into his watery blue eyes, his skin is pale and smile bright. There's a man in a wheel chair, maybe early fifties, late forties, black hair graying a little, sweater-vest bright, like a middle school English teacher. The third is a girl, she's tall for a girl too, maybe his age, deep tanned skin, like she's been under the sun her entire life, sun-bleached curls braided down her shoulder neatly, and grey eyes, which almost ruin her beauty, the color of a thunderstorm about to strike the world with vicious lightning. 

"Where am I?" Percy managed to croak out, his throat felt dry and devoid of water. All three look to him, the girl furrows her brows, almost like she's angry with him. What did he do? Percy was sure he was the one who got knocked out by a bunch of pretty girls in the forest. 

She walks closer to him, he can smell lemon's and cherries, a strange combination. Her eyes darken when he looks at her. What did he do? Probably something stupid, Percy was good at that. 

"You drool in your sleep, idiot." She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. Percy frowns, her features are clearer now that she's closet to him. A splash of freckles over the bridge of her nose, cheeks and forehead. A scar, that seems faint but it's there, runs from her jawline down a bright orange shirt, her hair is more like princess curls, framing her face. She's pretty no doubt, but the frown on her face and stormy eyes kind of ruin it. 

"I'm sorry." He muttered, not really caring, but wiped the drool from his chin anyways. "But where am I?" Percy demanded, sitting up in the uncomfortable bed he had been stashed in. The boy with golden curls laughs, it's airy and almost funny like. Percy matches the voice with the southern accent to him. So the warm, teacher voice must belong to the man sitting in the wheelchair, his fingers running through a graying beard. 

"What is your name, boy?" The man wheels closer to him, his face is aged, smile lines creased into wrinkling skin, his hands rest atop his lap, where a home-knit blanket rests, colorful patterns and pictures depicted upon it. 

Percy hesitates a little.Why would he talk to strangers. But then again why would they save him from the woods and stash him in a tent?

"My name is Percy, where am I?" He repeats the question. All three look to each other warily, like they don't know what to say or how to say it. Percy doesn't like this. He wants answers and now. Every cell in his body wants him to run, run far, far away from these strangers and hope to forget their voices and faces. But his legs are glued to the bed and his head hurts like a bitch. Must have been the punch the one girl gave him, because is vision is a little blurry and there's a painful pang in his head. 

"You're safe, from many things, that is all you need to know there boy." The wheel-chair man smiles at him. But it only unnerves Percy more. Where on Earth was he? Last time he checked he was in the Western Forests, uncharted land that was speckled with grubby towns, but there was nothing beyond the mountains. He grew up learning that the land was cursed, and no-one should go there. But what was he safe from? The elements that could have killed him? The price on his head from escaping the High Court? The girls in silvery clothes from the forest? 

"William, make sure he is healthy enough to tour the camp, Annabeth you'll be his guide. Good day to you both." Wheel-chair man smiles, the girl opens her mouth in protest but the man is gone before she can say anything. William, who Percy assumed went by Will picked up a sheet of paper on the beside table, scanned it with watery blue eyes and then smiled at Percy widely. 

"For being homeless and nearly dying, you're in great health there Percy. Just don't overexert yourself, eat plenty and drink at least a gallon of water a day." Will gives him a soft smile, then exits the tent. Annabeth glares at Percy accusingly. 

"C'mon, I'll give you the tour." She grumbles, grabbing him roughly by the arm, yanking him to his feet. Percy wobbles for a moment, trying to find his balance and let the dizziness seep out of his head which is still pounding, aching. 

Percy follows the girl out of the tent, his eyes squint for a moment, the sun is bright, the sky is a brilliant blue, the kind you see in fairytales or TV shows. It's also green. Green all around him, tall pines that touch the sky, a grassy field that stretches on, pinpricks of yellow within the green. But what surprises Percy the most, is the people. There has to be at least fifty kids in eyeshot of where he stands, cobbled paths leading to cabins, a volleyball pit, a open air dining hall and more. Most kids wear the same bright orange shirts Annabeth wears, combat boots and jeans. 

"Welcome to Half-Blood Haven." Annabeth grumbles and starts on the cobbled path that leads through grassy fields. They have to be high in the mountains because when he takes a deep breath, his head starts pounding and his chest hurts. A couple of kids give him odd looks at Annabeth leads him down the path, they pass a large U shape of cabins, some are painted, others have barbed wire stuck around the front, all have different flags posted on stands. 

They stop at the U shape. "You'll be staying in one of these cabins," She points to the array of different cabins, giving Percy less than a second to look at them before moving on. They pass a basketball court that looks almost crudely made, a couple of tetherball poles and a sand pit with a volleyball net set up. 

Finally they make it to a farmhouse, chipped blue and white paint peeling off the sides, a wrap around porch and windows that are crystal clear, except for the ones at the attic, which is dusty, crusted over with cobwebs and ripped curtains covering the pane. 

"That's the Big-House, where our director lives, Mr. Brunner, but just call him Chiron." Annabeth says and moves on before Percy can fully look at the Big House. What is it with her? What did he do that has made this chick so angry? He's sure he's never met her before because he would remember those gray eyes and princess curls. More kids stare at him as he walks by, Percy doesn't realize he's in different clothes, an old flannel and jeans, not his tattered hoodie and shorts that he had on in the forest. 

They come to the top of a small hill, and below it is a sparkling cobalt lake spread out in the green, a river running from the south end from the pine forest that spreads out like a blanket. A couple of kids are in old fashioned canoes, there's a dock that has some paddle boats and paddle boards tied to the staples in the dock boards. Just by the lake is a horse stable and barn, where a couple of girls are brushing some horses of all different colors and sizes. 

"That's the Dead Lake, don't go there unless you know how to swim, it's taken enough as is." Annabeth says almost sadly, like she's lost someone to the seemingly perfect waters that brush up against dunes of sand and dirt.

"Good thing I do." He mumbles but Annabeth has already moved on. He still is confused on as what he did. 

As she turns he shouts. "What did I do to you? I didn't ask to be here or to be given glares by a girl I don't even know." 

Annabeth turns back on her heel sharply, her face molded into a ugly sneer. Percy suddenly feel's like he's going to be shot or stabbed because that glare is worse close up, like a wolf staring down it's prey. 

"Look buddy, it's not just me that doesn't like you. But you show up, half dead on our door-step three days ago and since then weird things have been going on and the only reason they've been happening is because you showed up." 

Percy falters as he's about to argue. He was out for three days? 

"It's not my fault that a bunch of girls brought me here. I was planning on dying in the forest. I didn't ask to come here, okay?" He shouts back, getting angry that she think's it's his fault for being half-dead. It wasn't. 

Annabeth opens her mouth to say something but as he did, falters for a moment, her eyes lightening a little, like the storm coming to pass. 

"You where kidnapped by a bunch of girls? Tell me Percy," She says his name like it's poison in her mouth. "Where they dressed in silver camo and had bows strapped to their back?" 

Percy hesitates before nodding. A flood of emotion washes over her, first surprise, then anger, then joy and happiness, then anger again. 

"Why? Does that mean something to you?" 

Annabeth nods, a grave look coming over her face and her eyes are almost translucent, like clouds in a blue sky. "Yeah, it means you're more than just a half-dead guy showing up on our doorstep, it means your the linchpin." 

"The linchpin to what exactly?" 

Annabeth stares at the ground for a dark moment, then looks up, a fearful look on her face, like she's seeing a ghost or demon. 

"To the end of humanity as we know it."


	3. Linchpin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun chappie ahead lololo

It's been three days and every time he tries to talk to Annabeth, he gets the cold shoulder. He wants to know why he is the linchpin and how she knows it, but every-time he brings it up, she curses him out and kicks him hard in the shins. 

There are thirteen cabins, and Percy is put in a cabin all by himself, per Chiron's request. The old guy says it's because Percy needs time to adjust but he knows, he knows that it's for a different reason. But he doesn't mind being in the cabin all alone, the walls are made of seastone, aged and wethered down, but still amazing. It has a view of the lake and smells like the ocean, the beds are comfy and it's not too bad at all. He likes it. 

He makes some friends, two prank master brothers named Conner and Travis who take a liking to Percy, they look identical, even if not twins, with big blue eyes and sandy brownish blonde hair. Their older sibling, Luke, who Percy also likes and bonds with, is like a parent, since he's the oldest of everyone here, he's in his early twenties, while everyone else are simply kids, not much older than eighteen and not much younger than ten. 

"Since you're in your own cabin, you get to make your own schedule, but you also have to do chores, like dish duty and table cleaning. You also have to take basic sword, archery and defense classes before anything else." Annabeth tells him. He's confused. As always. 

"When I heard of this place, I thought of it to be more like a military base, not a summer camp for runaways." 

Annabeth doesn't laugh, just raises her eyebrows. "There's a town called Rome City, it's about fifty miles from here, once you turn eighteen, you leave and live there. That place is a military like town." 

"Then why is Luke here, he's like twenty three." 

Annabeth almost smiles, he's learned that she and Luke are like brother and sister, incredibly close and bound at the hip at some times. "He can't leave, and neither can I." She says, walking away from Percy, leaving him wondering why that she was the exception to everyone else. 

Percy has so many questions. Why do they train with swords, knives and bows instead of guns and flame-throwers? How did this place even come to a start and how has the High Court not found them? He's heard rumors from a hundred different people, so they have to know that there is a camp out here and a town that are rebelling against the High Court of Hell? 

Conner is the first person to give him a clear answer. 

"Look man, this place has been here longer than the High Court, they can't touch us without igniting a rebellion. Besides, we're just beyond the Rockies, the mountain range we're in, that's uncharted territory, well most of it. If the High Court was to strike us, it would alert the public that there is more than just wasteland beyond here. And that would start a rebellion of it's own." 

Percy, as always, is still confused. He's gotten used to that. The painful pang in his head, and the darkness that seems to seep into his soul and suck out all the light that was left inside it. 

Before the High Court there was the Crown, a kingdom ruled by twelve high powers, and the king of Olympus(the name of their country), Zeus the Thirty Third was executed by Titans, the opposing power. And when the Crown was alive, the country was seperated into thirteen reigons, all separately governed. Percy had lived in the Pluviam region, that ran along the coast line of a pennenisula covered in wetland. Their ruler had been Duke Posideon the Thirty Second. 

But the Titans had destroyed all of it. The regions where gone, all now named Dark Region. And all ruled by the twelve Titans. 

\---

Percy was not fond of the bruises forming on his chest. Especially when Annabeth Chase had given them to him. Yes now, they where on a first name basis, she didn't glare at him as much as she used to. 

He was learning self-defense, he was already fine at it, he just needed more practice, Annabeth was a master, could take him down within seconds of getting on the mat. His first time was laughable, but he was slowly getting better and even gave Annabeth a couple of bruises too. 

Archery was not his thing, Kayla, a girl from the Apollo Cabin(All cabins where named after each ruler of the thirteen regions.) had given up on him in a matter of minutes and told him to never come back and try archery again. He was fine with that. 

Sword fighting at first was difficult. His arms where still aching from archery and self-defense, picking up the heavy sword, he felt like a idiot. Why where they training with old-fashioned weapons? Why not guns and pistols? 

"Hold it like this." Luke twisted Percy's hands on the grubby hilt, almost like he was holding a bat, ready to strike a ball. But the sword was much too heavy. 

"Can I use a different one?" He pointed to the racks of swords, all shapes, sizes and designs. Luke chuckles. 

"No. We have to find the right balance for you, and that means trying out all weights and sizes. Trust me, I could barely hold that one when I started. Now it's like a feather." Luke unsheathes his blade which has a thinner edge than most. Meaning he has more of an advantage. 

A crowd gathers around them, making Percy more nervous. When they start, Luke shows him the basics of disarming, how to twist your dominate arm correctly and footing. It's like a deadly dance really, confusing and complicated, all while holding weapons in hand. Weapons that can skewer anything. He's disarmed within seconds of starting. 

"Trust me Percy, everyone here has done this and been disarmed like this. You're not the only one." 

That really does not help Percy's mood. 

They got at it for about two hours. People come and go, sometimes snickering, others giving advice to Percy on how to hold his head and when to turn his body. He starts to get the hang of it, and can fight with Luke for almost three minutes before being disarmed. 

"Good job Percy. You'll be training with me every day for at the least an hour. I want you to stick to Annabeth's workout routine, it'll get you in better shape." 

Percy nods, his arms and weak and he wants to collapse. And the idea of following Annabeth's routine sickens him. She runs five miles a day and does twice as many pushups than she's supposed to. He's so going to die. He wishes that he would have in that stupid forest. He wouldn't have to be running and training with sharp sticks. 

That night(his third) he collapsed on the bunk bed, he had gotten his clothes back in a duffel bag while he was out training with Luke, so he shuffled through the bag, his tattered sweatshirt, along with a stash of camp issued clothes with some toiltries and some towels, his knife which he set on a bedside table. But there was something else in there. He wrapped his hand on a horn like item and pulled it from the depths of the duffel. 

It was a curved horn, like the kind you would find on a bull. It looks to be cracked around the edges, like it was ripped from the head of a bull violently, but smooth and almost pretty like. It was the kind of thing his father would like. 

On the back of the horn there was a tiny inscription. 

'The linchpin.' 

Percy had no idea what that meant, setting the bull's horn on the bedside table, and turning the lamp off, where he was again encased in the shadows of darkness and monsters. HIs first few days here had been hell, his head hurt like a bitch and everyone with the execption of Luke, Conner and Travis hated him. He didn't understand why. Why was he a 'linchpin' and how did they know? How did they know that he was the start of the end of humanity? He was sure that there where more people and countries than just Olympus. 

But he let those thoughts dwindle down the drain of hopelessness and his eyes closed, drifting off into a sleep filled with hellish nightmares of monsters lurking in the corners of an endless abyss.


	4. Of Monsters and Men

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think?  
> Leave me some reviews lolol
> 
> Also forgot to mention, Percy and Annabeth are seventeen not sixteen lol

Percy doesn't know what to do with himself as he sits alone in the sea-stone cabin. His feet hang off the floor, he's tall, but he sits back on the bottom bunk, trying to hold himself together, because all of the numbness is crashing down. He can't seem to feel anything. Like all the emotions have been sucked from his soul and tunneled down into a pool of death and despair. 

He can't feel anything. 

Percy awoke from another nightmare, in which he doesn't escape and he sees his mother and father brutally murdered. 

They where brutally murdered, by the High Court Guards, but sometimes, he likes to think that he's a simple runaway and his mom is in their bungalow home on the beach, waiting for him with a fresh batch of blue cookies and a milkshake, his father in the garage, asking him to help fix the motorbike. He didn't see it happen luckily, but he could hear their screams and the cries of help. 

He couldn't save them. 

Almost three years ago. He was seventeen, going to be eighteen in the next year. But that was months away, it was early October, the leaves crisping into oranges, yellows and reds, the grass yellowing and sun starting to dip lower into the sky earlier in the day. He liked autumn, but preferred the warmth and feel of the summer time. 

In the morning, he would rise and wait for Annabeth to go on their runs. It had been a week since he arrived here half dead. A week since the girls in silver camo punched his lights out and sent him here for no apparent reason. A four days since he started to work out with Annabeth. At first she had been even colder when Luke told her that he would train with her. But Percy had gotten her to be a little less icy and more distant than rough and mean. 

He learned that her favorite color was a mix of blue and green, which reminded him of his eyes really. And that she grew up in the Ibis region of Olympus, it was far north and cold, so this weather must be paradise to her. Ibis was ruled by Duchess Athena the Fifth, one of the wisest of the twelve and nearly survived her execution. 

Other than growing up in Ibis and her favorite color, Percy knew zilch about Annabeth Chase. 

She was mysterious, and a bit of a bully, Travis and Conner had given him looks of sympathy when she yelled at him for being an idiot one day. She was nice to most people, especially Luke who Percy found kind of stand-offish sometimes. 

As the sun rose, Percy did too, he laced his running shoes, threw on a camp-issued orange sweatshirt and ran out of his cabin to the Athena cabin, it's grey and white walls shining in the pale mountain moonlight. Annabeth was sitting on the steps of her cabin, tying a pair of yellow sneakers on, her sun-bleached curls thrown up in a pony tail, curls framing her face. She really was very pretty, but she would be prettier if her personality and actions towards him weren't so ugly. 

"Hey, how'd you sleep." He offers a start up for a conversation as she stands, stretching. She simply grunts, meaning she slept fine and didn't want to talk as they ran. They take a path through the forest and around the lake, it's roughly five-ish miles, the first time they did it, Percy collapsed. This was his fourth time and he was slowly getting the hang of it. 

For a while they don't talk, the sky lightens from a dark, heavy blue to a much lighter one, the sun's rays touching the sky, sending colorful streaks of reds and oranges across the never ending canvas above. He likes nature, all of it's beauty. He grew up by the ocean, on the edges of a city where smoke clogged the sky and smothered the stars. He doesn't understand how the High Court or the Crown had kept this from the people. Or what really lay beyond these mountains. Percy still didn't know. 

Maybe there's more to it than just stretches of forest and mountains. Maybe there are cities and towns, a whole other country than just Olympus and the High Court of Hell and the Titans. 

Hopefully there is more. 

"How'd you get here Annabeth?" He asks as they curve around the lake at a steady pace. Annabeth frowns as they run. 

"What do you mean?" 

"How did you get to Half-Blood Haven? How?" 

He doesn't expect her to respond, she always ignores him, but this time she does respond. 

"I came here when I was twelve, with Luke and...another girl." 

"Why?" 

Annabeths shoots him a dirty look. "Because I had no other choice. Like everyone else here." 

Percy shakes his head. "You also said you can't leave here, why?" 

Annabeth gives him a glare but he doesn't back down. He wants answers and he's tired of being in the dark about everything. She stops in their run, they are nearly done, just have to run up the hill back to camp. 

"Look buddy, you need to stop sniffing around. I was here for a while then I left and came back two months ago. You either shut up and keep to yourself or I'll skin you alive." 

Percy just stares at her. What has made her so guarded? What has forced her to put up these walls that she won't ever let anyone get close to? 

"I'm tired of you being a jack-ass to me. Okay? I'm tired of always being the bad-guy to you. I just want to have a normal conversation without being threatened? Is that so bad?" 

Annabeth grunts. "You come here and everything starts going wrong. It's easy to assume you're the one to blame." 

"WHAT?! What is going on! Everytime I ask, you tell me nothing. Stop being a cold bitch and tell me something!" He shouts, growing angrier by the second. Annabeth laughs sarcastically and shakes her head. 

"The day you got here, a...mystical friend of ours sent out a dire message. That the end of humanity would end if we kept up this charade. And that we would know how the end would start when a stranger wound up on our doorstep. The last person to come to this camp was six months ago, besides me. And the day after you show up, the High Court has issued a new order. The kind that will turn our country into a worse hell." Annabeth spits on the dirt, her blonde hair falls loose from her pony tail, curls bouncing on her shoulders and past her collarbone. 

Percy doesn't know what to say. A mystical friend? No. 

He grew up with technology, TV shows and movies, cell-phones and laptops. Not mystical friends. 

Nothing mystical at all. 

His world, before the taking over, was normal. He went to school, was picked up at four, sometimes walked. It rained, the sun shone and the clouds parted. Thirteen regions, twelve rulers. He read books at night, watched comedies and horror movies with his dad. His life was normal, well, it had been normal. 

But he did not believe in a higher, religious power, not the myths or stories his mom told him. 

So why should he believe her? Annabeth is the kind of person to tell the truth at nearly at times, unless she's hiding something, but with the fire burning in her almost black eyes, he can't help but believe her. 

"What's the order?" He asks softly. 

Annabeth looks to the floor. 

"Chiron wouldn't tell me all the details, but it pretty much means that anyone who has a word to say against the Court will be executed. That everyone is a slave to te government. And no-one, not a single person will be exempt from this." 

"And this came the day that I did?" 

Annabeth nods, running a hand through her curls. "Maybe my...friend meant other things, her little spouts always do. But you, you are the start of all of this. And there is no other reason to believe that you aren't some sort of culprit."

Percy frowns. "Look girl, I don't know anything. I've been on the run for two years, nearly three. I was almost executed three months ago because I stole a piece of bread. If i was going to take you down, and I was the reason behind this end of humanity gig your friend is talking of, then I think the world have already ended and we would all be dead, eh?"

Annabeth just shakes her head, sending curls flying around her shoulders. "No. The end of humanity might mean the end of our freedom, our choice, will to freaking live. It could mean anything. But what I do know is that you aren't innocent." 

She turns on her heel, about to run up the hill when he shouts. "You aren't innocent either there princess. Whatever you're hiding, I'll find out." Percy manages a cocky, half-ass smile. Annabth simply raises her middle finger and thumb, without another word before jogging up the hill and towards the rising sun. \----------- Percy was bored for most of that day. He couldn't do much but think about their earlier conversation. How angry she had been at him for simply asking questions. 

This was the first time he had a home in nearly three years. The first time he was well rested, fed, clothed and had a real, proper shower with shampoo and conditioner. When he asked where they got all this stuff, Conner just smirked and told them that Rome City had access to underground tunnels where they smuggled supplies from the closest city, which was Cheyenne, almost two hundred miles away. But why, why was Annabeth like this. She infuriated him. She made his toes and fists curl into anger, he wanted to pull her hair out, scream, punch and stab her. She was a cold, distant bitch. Why couldn't he give her a real goddamn answer!? 

She was hiding something. More than just answers. Hiding about who she was. He didn't want to be her best friend, but he was just as suspicoius of her as she was of him. 

Why couldn't she just be nice and welcoming like all the other girls in this place had. A girl named Silena had promised him horseback riding lessons and a girl named Katie wanted to teach him how to harvest properly, which kind of excited him because he wanted to try new things. Annabeth had done nothing for him. 

So as he stared up at his ceiling he made a silent vow, one that he couldn't break. That he would find out everything he needed to know and find out what dark secrets Annabeth was hiding. 

Because for the first time in his life, Percy didn't want to be the nice guy. He was tired of being what people expected him to be. He needed to be his own kind of hero, his own villian. He needed to be Percy. 

But how he was going to do that would be difficult.


End file.
